Boom! Studios 2016
Created & Written by Simon Spurrier
Illustrated by Dylan Burnett
Coloured by Triona Farrell
Lettered by Jim Campbell
It’s been a month since Sid received his spider and has been part of the gang. Much to his chagrin as his newfound loyalty is being tested left and right. Still he’s doing his best to get the hang of things, understand these people how they operate and essentially who’s who. Sounds a tad suspicious when you put on paper like that perhaps there is more to this young man than meets the eye and the secret his spider wants revealed is larger than we’ve been expecting it to be. Simon is writing one heck of an unusual story here and as it keeps going it’s catching us deeper and deeper in it’s web.
Big Boss man doesn’t trust Sid and that’s been made perfectly clear. Not afraid to tell him he’s been searching for his secrets too. This is a bad mama jama and he’s definitely not one you want to cross or get on his bad side. Heck even with his own daughter working with him there’s not trust for the new guy. Still the way it’s written and the characterization in the dialogue is fantastic. Speaking of the opening is utterly creepy, violent and a perfection demonstration of how you can take the criminal element and up the ante in ways that should terrify you.
Oh the stuff of nightmares and dreams are really what our subconscious is thinking of right so it’s no wonder Sid dreams of who he’s working with and what he knows and then the spider inside him trying assert its influence on him. It’s time like this that I want to know so much more about these creatures than has been revealed. I mean they are nasty buggers and if they have their own intelligence and corrupt the mind of their host then no wonder things are as bad as they are with the turf war and with each other. Spiders were never meant to be pack animals.
Ah after what he saw at Terry’s shop she’s packing up an leaving town. I do like that she’s a weapons maker and for a price will work with anyone and that she knows more about how the spiders work than he does. Still the revelation we get about the bomb and who had it commissioned was a definite shocker!
Almost as much as Sid being in on the hit of the safe house and having a junkie in the alley know who he is. Alright the web is full of deceit and lies and they are getting more and more tangled up in each other and soon something has to give. The more we learn the less we know and it’s almost maddening but at the same time you can’t turn away for fear of missing something. This is storytelling at it’s finest.
Dylan and Triona bring this to life so nicely. The style here is greatly suited for this type of story that’s darker and more mysterious, full of secrets, lies and violence and the way the work is done highlights all that and more. The way the story flows throughout the pages and panels is strong and the use of backgrounds and shading to create focal points is impressive. Then the creativity in the spiders and the powers they grant shouldn’t go unnoticed.
The more we see the more questions we have and that is great as it keeps the suspense high and the interest factor higher. This is one of those rare books that defies explanation and should be enjoyed for the bizarre that it is.